A depiction of a meeting of the Workingmen's Party on the sandlot opposite San Francisco City Hall. The party was formed during a recession and gave expression to the anger felt against Chinese immigrants on the West Coast who were thought to be undercutting wages. less

A depiction of a meeting of the Workingmen's Party on the sandlot opposite San Francisco City Hall. The party was formed during a recession and gave expression to the anger felt against Chinese immigrants on ... more

Photo: MPI/Getty Images

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A General View of Chinatown's 'Street of the Gamblers,' circa 1898.

A General View of Chinatown's 'Street of the Gamblers,' circa 1898.

Photo: Fotosearch/Getty Images

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Two little sisters hold hands as they walk down the street in Chinatown, San Francisco, ca. 1890s.

Two little sisters hold hands as they walk down the street in Chinatown, San Francisco, ca. 1890s.

Photo: Library Of Congress/Corbis/VCG Via Getty Images

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An illustrated view of the Chinese Quarter in San Francisco, California, late 19th century. People walk in the streets, carrying buckets and talking with vendors. A small dog barks in the street. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

An illustrated view of the Chinese Quarter in San Francisco, California, late 19th century. People walk in the streets, carrying buckets and talking with vendors. A small dog barks in the street. (Photo by

Two small girls cross the street in front of a vase store in Chinatown, San Francisco.

Two small girls cross the street in front of a vase store in Chinatown, San Francisco.

Photo: Library Of Congress/Corbis/VCG Via Getty Images

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Two residents of Chinatown, one with a child, read a Tong proclamation circa 1897.

Two residents of Chinatown, one with a child, read a Tong proclamation circa 1897.

Photo: Library Of Congress/Corbis/VCG Via Getty Images

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A wagoner directs his horse through the busy, narrow streets of Chinatown in San Francisco.

A wagoner directs his horse through the busy, narrow streets of Chinatown in San Francisco.

Photo: Library Of Congress/Corbis/VCG Via Getty Images

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Chinatown in San Francisco around the turn of the century.

Chinatown in San Francisco around the turn of the century.

Photo: Apic/Getty Images

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A night view of San Francisco's Chinatown in the 1950's. The streets are crowded with traffic and neon signs light up the night.

A night view of San Francisco's Chinatown in the 1950's. The streets are crowded with traffic and neon signs light up the night.

Photo: Curt Teich Postcard Archives, Getty Images

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circa 1955: Two chorus girls prepare for their act in the dressing room of the Forbidden City nightclub in Chinatown, San Francisco.

circa 1955: Two chorus girls prepare for their act in the dressing room of the Forbidden City nightclub in Chinatown, San Francisco.

Photo: Orlando, Getty Images

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People look through a shop window on Grant Avenue in Chinatown in San Francisco on January 13, 1966.

People look through a shop window on Grant Avenue in Chinatown in San Francisco on January 13, 1966.

Photo: Joe Rosenthal, The Chronicle

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Circa 1955: A little boy listens with rapt attention during a lesson at the Commodore Stockton School in Chinatown, San Francisco. The school provides education for most of Chinatown's younger children, and was named after Robert F Stockton, the first military governor of California. less

Circa 1955: A little boy listens with rapt attention during a lesson at the Commodore Stockton School in Chinatown, San Francisco. The school provides education for most of Chinatown's younger children, and ... more

Photo: Orlando, Getty Images

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Chinatown has nightclubs where, occasionally, "conventional dancing" is spoken in early summer 1967 in San Francisco.

Chinatown has nightclubs where, occasionally, "conventional dancing" is spoken in early summer 1967 in San Francisco.

Photo: Michael Ochs Archives, Getty Images

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circa 1955: A young woman eats a bowl of rice using chopsticks in Johnny Kan's famous Chinese restaurant in Chinatown.

circa 1955: A young woman eats a bowl of rice using chopsticks in Johnny Kan's famous Chinese restaurant in Chinatown.

Photo: Orlando, Getty Images

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Two Chinese-American women come to have their fortunes told by Chin Toy, an attendant at the Chinese temple or joss house on Pine Street in Chinatown, San Francisco. The temple is owned by the Kong Chow Family Society, and is frequented by followers of Buddhism, Confucianism and Taoism. less

Two Chinese-American women come to have their fortunes told by Chin Toy, an attendant at the Chinese temple or joss house on Pine Street in Chinatown, San Francisco. The temple is owned by the Kong Chow Family ... more

Photo: Orlando, Getty Images

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San Francisco's Chinatown, the largest outside of Asia, is a bustling neighborhood in early summer 1967.

San Francisco's Chinatown, the largest outside of Asia, is a bustling neighborhood in early summer 1967.

Photo: Michael Ochs Archives, Getty Images

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circa 1955: A customer receives her parcel of meat from the butcher at Ying Fat Lung's Chinese shop in Chinatown, San Francisco. Overhead hang dried bunches of Chinese sausage and bacon.

circa 1955: A customer receives her parcel of meat from the butcher at Ying Fat Lung's Chinese shop in Chinatown, San Francisco. Overhead hang dried bunches of Chinese sausage and bacon.

Photo: Orlando / Getty Images

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San Francisco's Chinatown, the largest outside of Asia, is a bustling neighborhood in early summer 1967.

San Francisco's Chinatown, the largest outside of Asia, is a bustling neighborhood in early summer 1967.

Photo: Michael Ochs Archives, Getty Images

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Children while away the time on the back of a truck in Chinatown in early summer 1967.

Children while away the time on the back of a truck in Chinatown in early summer 1967.

Photo: Michael Ochs Archives, Getty Images

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Nationalist Chinese and American flags wave side by side in early summer 1967.

Nationalist Chinese and American flags wave side by side in early summer 1967.

Photo: Michael Ochs Archives, Getty Images

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Circa 1955: A shop assistant at the Tai Ping Company boutique on Grant Avenue, Chinatown, San Francisco, demonstrates a giant Chinese fan to an interested customer.

Circa 1955: A shop assistant at the Tai Ping Company boutique on Grant Avenue, Chinatown, San Francisco, demonstrates a giant Chinese fan to an interested customer.

Photo: Orlando, Getty Images

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Chinatown in San Francisco, the largest outside of Asia, is a bustling neighborhood in in San Francisco in early summer, 1967.

Chinatown in San Francisco, the largest outside of Asia, is a bustling neighborhood in in San Francisco in early summer, 1967.

Photo: Michael Ochs Archives, Getty Images

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Circa 1955: The building which once housed the China Telephone Office on Washington Street, Chinatown, San Francisco, currently the offices of the Pacific Telephone and Telegraph Company. The original exchange service became redundant with the advent of telephone dialling, although for forty years it had been the only Chinese-speaking exchange outside China, serving 2,100 telephones in the area. less

Circa 1955: The building which once housed the China Telephone Office on Washington Street, Chinatown, San Francisco, currently the offices of the Pacific Telephone and Telegraph Company. The original exchange ... more

Photo: Orlando, Getty Images

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Circa 1955: Estelle Jung, a chorus girl at the Forbidden City nightclub in Chinatown, San Francisco, adds the finishing touches to her make-up prior to her act.

Circa 1955: Estelle Jung, a chorus girl at the Forbidden City nightclub in Chinatown, San Francisco, adds the finishing touches to her make-up prior to her act.

Photo: Orlando, Getty Images

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The 1957 Chinese New Year's Parade in San Francisco drew a record crowd of 140,000 to Chinatown.

The 1957 Chinese New Year's Parade in San Francisco drew a record crowd of 140,000 to Chinatown.

Photo: Chronicle Archive 1957, Chronicle Archive 1957

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A view down Grant Avenue in San Francisco's Chinatown, the sidewalks are filled with pedestrians. Vintage automobiles line the street.

A view down Grant Avenue in San Francisco's Chinatown, the sidewalks are filled with pedestrians. Vintage automobiles line the street.

Photo: Curt Teich Postcard Archives, Getty Images

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circa 1955: A little girl reads aloud from the board during an English class at the Commodore Stockton School in Chinatown, San Francisco. The school provides education for most of Chinatown's younger children. less

circa 1955: A little girl reads aloud from the board during an English class at the Commodore Stockton School in Chinatown, San Francisco. The school provides education for most of Chinatown's younger ... more

Photo: Orlando, Getty Images

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San Francisco's Chinatown tries to attract the youth market with the Drag'on A'Go Go in early summer 1967.

San Francisco's Chinatown tries to attract the youth market with the Drag'on A'Go Go in early summer 1967.

Photo: Michael Ochs Archives, Getty Images

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Circa 1955: A stallholder at the Yee Wo market in Chinatown, San Francisco, slices off a section of lotus root for a customer. The large knobbly root is imported from Hong Kong, and is a popular ingredient in soup. less

Circa 1955: A stallholder at the Yee Wo market in Chinatown, San Francisco, slices off a section of lotus root for a customer. The large knobbly root is imported from Hong Kong, and is a popular ingredient in ... more

Photo: Orlando, Getty Images

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A banner on Grant Street, San Francisco, welcomes visitors to Chinatown, with its hundreds of Chinese shops, restaurants and markets.

A banner on Grant Street, San Francisco, welcomes visitors to Chinatown, with its hundreds of Chinese shops, restaurants and markets.

Photo: Orlando, Getty Images

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circa 1955: Two women sample the bird's nest soup and other delicacies on offer at Johnny Kan's famous Chinese restaurant in Chinatown, San Francisco.

circa 1955: Two women sample the bird's nest soup and other delicacies on offer at Johnny Kan's famous Chinese restaurant in Chinatown, San Francisco.

circa 1955: At night, lanterns and neon lights advertise the Chinese restaurants along Grant Avenue in Chinatown, San Francisco.

circa 1955: At night, lanterns and neon lights advertise the Chinese restaurants along Grant Avenue in Chinatown, San Francisco.

Photo: Orlando, Getty Images

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Circa 1955: China Station, the US Post Office situated on Clay Street, Chinatown, San Francisco. Established in 1931, it employs five Chinese-speaking clerks and a superintendent, and serves the 25,000 residents of Chinatown. less

Circa 1955: China Station, the US Post Office situated on Clay Street, Chinatown, San Francisco. Established in 1931, it employs five Chinese-speaking clerks and a superintendent, and serves the 25,000 ... more

Photo: Orlando, Getty Images

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San Francisco's Chinatown, the largest outside of Asia, also has Italian markets in early summer 1967.

San Francisco's Chinatown, the largest outside of Asia, also has Italian markets in early summer 1967.

circa 1955: A little boy writes carefully on the blackboard during an English lesson at the Commodore Stockton School in Chinatown, San Francisco. The school provides education for most of Chinatown's younger children, and was named after Robert F Stockton, the first military governor of California. less

circa 1955: A little boy writes carefully on the blackboard during an English lesson at the Commodore Stockton School in Chinatown, San Francisco. The school provides education for most of Chinatown's younger ... more

Photo: Orlando, Getty Images

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Circa 1955: A scene of east meets west in San Francisco's Chinatown, where a poster advertising American cigarettes stands behind baskets of the traditional Chinese soup ingredients of kelp and white fruit nuts or bok gaw, on sale outside the Chong Kee Jan Company shop. less

Circa 1955: A scene of east meets west in San Francisco's Chinatown, where a poster advertising American cigarettes stands behind baskets of the traditional Chinese soup ingredients of kelp and white fruit ... more

Photo: Orlando, Getty Images

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Circa 1955: A line of Chinese chorus girls entertains visitors to the Forbidden City nightclub in Chinatown.

Circa 1955: A line of Chinese chorus girls entertains visitors to the Forbidden City nightclub in Chinatown.

Photo: Orlando, Getty Images

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San Francisco's Chinatown, the largest outside of Asia, is a bustling neighborhood in early summer 1967.

San Francisco's Chinatown, the largest outside of Asia, is a bustling neighborhood in early summer 1967.

Photo: Michael Ochs Archives, Getty Images

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140 years ago, San Francisco was set ablaze during the city's deadliest race riots

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The first curls of smoke rose from the Beale Street Wharf as dusk was falling on the evening of July 24, 1877.

Within minutes, crowds of San Franciscans were gathering on Bryant to watch flames lick the pier, which housed coal, oil and lumber. They soon realized someone had dumped some of the 100 barrels of whale oil to ignite the fire. Quick-thinking citizens pushed the remaining barrels into the bay before they ignited.

What most hadn’t yet realized was the fire was a diversion. The real trouble was happening downtown — and soon, four men would be dead.

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The 1870s were a time of great social and economic unrest in the United States. The country was several years deep into the “Long Depression,” and San Francisco was hit hard. The Bank of California failed. Unemployment was as high as 20 percent. Thousands were being fed daily by churches and charities.

Anti-Chinese sentiment was long-simmering in the city, and troubled economic times only exacerbated race hate. After completion of the Transcontinental Railroad, Chinese workers flooded the job market and more came by boat from China.

“The Chinese are unpopular because they do not vote, and because they work for low wages,” the New York Times wrote in 1877.

The 1877 San Francisco race riots started off, at least ostensibly, as a labor strike. But it didn’t take long before the “labor strike” became an overt anti-Chinese action. At one labor meeting, an organizer had to soothe the crowd, which was furious at Chinese immigrants who they felt undercut white laborers by working for less.

“Mr. D’Arcy threw a damper on the meeting by stating that this was no anti-Coolie meeting, and that they were not there for the purpose of discussing the Chinese question,” the Daily Alta reported. “He put on another blanket by saying that they had met, not for the purpose of encouraging riot and incendiarism, but to give their brother workmen in the [East Coast] their moral support.”

On July 23, the anti-Chinese riots started when 8,000 people gathered in the vacant “sand lot” in front of City Hall for another labor gathering. It didn’t take long before it devolved into a racist mob.

"Everything was orderly until an anti-Coolie procession pushed its way into the audience and insisted that the speakers say something about the Chinese,” historian Selig Perlman wrote in The Anti-Chinese Agitation in California. “This was refused and thereupon the crowd which had gathered on the outskirts of the meeting attacked a passing Chinaman and started the cry, 'On to Chinatown.'"

Along the way, the mob destroyed property, burned Chinese laundries and threatened all challengers. The police were next to useless.

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The following morning, it became clear the rioting had only just begun. A local newspaper ran an ad placed by one of the mob organizers. “RALLY! RALLY! Great anti-coolie Mass Meeting at the New City Hall, Market street, at 8 o’clock p.m.,” the advertisement read.

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In preparation for more violence that night, city officials finally began mobilizing.

“It becomes my duty as Mayor of the city and county of San Francisco to appeal to all law-abiding people to assist in preserving the peace,” Mayor A.J. Bryant wrote in an official proclamation.

Law enforcement in 1800s San Francisco was a shockingly slapdash affair. Lacking sufficient officers, police began handing out 24-hour badges to civilians. The “Committee of Public Safety,” a vigilante group that formed in times of crisis, signed up even more men with “approved weapons” to police the streets.

Violence on both sides was expected — and in the case of the police, rather gleefully welcomed.

“Yesterday the police force was supplied with a new and improved pattern of club, which is warranted to be more effective than any other instrument in the business of skull-cracking,” the San Francisco Bulletin boasted. “This beautiful piece of tough wood is double the length and weight of the old club.”

When night fell, cool and foggy, Chinatown shuttered. Theatres closed and businesses took down their signs and put up blinds, making them look like ordinary residences.

Across town, crowds of police were dealing with the diversionary Beale Street Wharf fire. There was little to be done. The entire wharf burned down, turning $500,000 of property and goods into ash.

Near City Hall, the mob was again gathering. At 8 p.m., a “well-dressed man, but evidently under the influence of liquor” started an “incendiary harangue against the Chinese” from a makeshift stage. The mob was stoked into a fury by the rumor that the steamship City of Tokio was coming into port with even more Chinese workers. Hundreds of rioters, most of them teenage boys, started up Howard Street with destruction in mind.

“The band then moved in groups down Howard Street to Second under the lead of a drunken man of gigantic stature, who rend the air with his demoniacal yells,” the Chronicle reported. “... Every Chinese house had evidently been carefully listed beforehand, for on the whole line of march and on either side of the streets there was not left a single one which was not utterly and completely sacked.”

The “hoodlums,” as they were called, ripped up the wooden sidewalks to use as battering rams. They broke into Chinese laundries to steal money and valuables. And they shot anyone who opposed them.

At 11:30 p.m., the mob arrived at a wash-house owned by Si Sow on Divisadero and Greenwich. He had recently purchased the business for $1,200 and eight men were employed there. Several rioters entered the business, spraying the interior with bullets as they did. One found 25-year-old Wong Go. After ransacking the building, the mob set it alight. Hours later, Wong Go’s body was discovered inside. He’d been shot to death and left to burn.

By the morning of the 25th, three more men were dead and $100,000 of Chinese-owned property was destroyed. But thanks to the increased police presence, and the addition of 1,000 weapon-wielding Committee of Public Safety members, the pogrom was over.

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In the press, San Francisco took a beating.

“With characteristic cowardice the San Francisco mob threatened Chinese residents, and has wrecked several Chinese shops and houses,” the New York Times wrote on July 26. “… People who sack Chinese houses and stone Chinamen are not workingmen. San Francisco calls them ‘hoodlums,’ a term which includes everything that is base and mean. The hoodlum is a non-producer, loafer and bully. The hoodlum class think this is a good time to signify their hatred of law and order.” The murders of Chinese workers were some of the “most wicked and shocking crimes that ever disgraced the city,” the Chronicle lamented.

Despite the outpouring of support, the effect was only temporary. The 1877 race riots signaled the amplification of decades-long hatred toward the Bay Area’s Chinese population. Later that year, San Franciscan Denis Kearney formed the Workingmen’s Party of California, a labor organization whose rallying cry was: “The Chinese must go!" In the coming decade, they elected several members to the state legislature; their ballot reminded voters they were casting a vote “Against Chinese.”

The maelstrom of anti-Chinese sentiment culminated in 1882 when President Chester Arthur signed the Chinese Exclusion Act, halting Chinese immigration for 10 years and barring Chinese from becoming U.S. citizens.

The act wasn’t fully dismantled until 83 years later, when the Immigration Act of 1965 abolished quotas based on country of origin.